Morgan, Peterson emerge as village manager favorites

The Milford Village Council interviewed the four final candidates for the Milford Village manager position at an open meeting on Saturday, Sept. 8 and a couple favorites have emerged.

According to Village Interim Manager Deborah Frazer, the council will officially select the new manager at its next meeting on Monday, Sept. 17 and has rated its top two candidates — Brent Morgan, the city manager for Caro, Mich., and Franklin Peterson, city manager of Springfield, Mich., a suburb of Battle Creek.

“The council really liked their experience of being a manager,” Frazer said.

The other two candidates interviewed were Milford Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Director Ann Barnette and Freemont, Mich. City Manager Bryan Gruesbeck.

Each candidate was given a hour and a half for their interview on Saturday at the Milford Civic Center, and were asked a series of questions regarding their management experiences and what they would bring to the table as the village’s new chief executive.

Candidates were also asked how they would tackle current village issues such as the closure and possible village purchase of Baker Elementary School, priorities for the recently approved road improvement millage, and the village’s relationship with Milford Township.

Frazer said the council had the option to select the new manager the day of the interviews, but that it didn’t want to make a decision at that time. Additional discussion of the village manager selection is expected.

The new manager will replace Arthur Shufflebarger, who passed away on June 11 at his residence on Duke Street at the age of 60 due to natural causes after serving as the village manager since 1990.

The council previously opted to have the Michigan Municipal League utilize its executive search service and collect applications for the position.